Figure 3: Concentration of employment, water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E), 2013 (1)(cumulative share of the five principal Member States as a % of the EU-28 total)Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)

Table 3: Largest and most specialised Member States in water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (NACE Section E), EU-28, 2013 (1)Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)

Main statistical findings

Structural profile

There were 75.4 thousand enterprises classified within the EU-28’s water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector (Section E) in 2013; together they employed 1.5 million persons and generated EUR 97.5 billion of value added.

Enterprises in the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector were, on average, relatively large, as they contributed only 0.3 % of the total number of enterprises in the EU-28’s non-financial business economy (Sections B to J and L to N and Division 95) in 2013, but accounted for 1.1 % of its workforce and 1.6 % of its added value. Compared with the other NACE sections within the non-financial business economy, the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector was the second smallest in terms of its value added, its number of enterprises and persons employed in 2013 (larger than mining and quarrying, Section B).

Average personnel costs within the EU-28’s water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector were EUR 32.2 thousand per employee in 2013, slightly above the EUR 32.7 thousand per employee average in the non-financial business economy. Apparent labour productivity in the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector was EUR 67.0 thousand per person employed, more than 40 % above the non-financial business economy average (EUR 46.9 thousand per person employed). The wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio gives an idea of the extent to which apparent labour productivity relates to average personnel costs. For the EU-28’s water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector in 2013 this ratio was 202 % showing that the average value of output generated by each person employed was twice as high as the average cost of personnel input per employee; this was well above the non-financial business economy average (143.1 %).

Sectoral analysis

In employment terms, waste collection, treatment and disposal activities and materials recovery (Division 38, hereafter referred to as waste and materials recovery) was the largest subsector in the EU-28, occupying nearly three fifths (58.5 %) of the workforce within the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector in 2013 — see Figure 1. This relatively high share was principally due to the size of the workforce in waste collection (Group 38.1) which alone accounted for approximately one half of the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities workforce. Water supply (Division 36) employed more than one quarter (26 %) of the workforce, followed by sewerage activities (Division 37). This ranking was repeated in value added terms, although the relative importance of sectorial value added of waste and materials recovery was lower (47.8 %), while water supply and sewerage had a higher share (34.9 and 16.1 % respectively) compared to the share of employment.

For the two subsectors for which data are available for all four indicators shown in Table 2b, the values of all four indicators were above the non-financial business economy averages in 2013. The sewerage subsector recorded the highest values for each of the four indicators, followed by the waste and materials recovery subsector. The apparent labour productivity of these two subsectors varied considerably, from EUR 53 thousand per person employed for waste and materials recovery to nearly double this level (EUR 101 thousand per person employed) for the sewerage subsector. By contrast, there was far less variability in terms of EU-28 average personnel costs recorded for each subsector in 2013; both subsectors reported average personnel costs that were close to the non-financial business economy average of EUR 32.7 thousand per employee. As a result of the relatively narrow range of average personnel costs per employee, the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratios of each subsector broadly reflected their respective levels of apparent labour productivity. The gross operating rate displayed the greatest variety among the four indicators, ranging from 37.6 % for sewerage to 4.6 % for remediation activities and other waste management services; the latter was the only subsector where the gross operating rate was below the non-financial business economy average (9.5 %).

Country analysis

As for electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector contributed a relatively large share of the non-financial business economy workforce in a number of EU Member States in Central and Eastern Europe. The water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector provided employment to 1.5 % or more of the non-financial business economy workforce in 2013 in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. In Greece and Luxembourg this sector contributed 0.5 % or less of the non-financial business economy workforce. The water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector accounted for a greater share of non-financial business economy value added than employment in the majority of the Member States in 2013 (see Figure 2), with the only exception being Romania (as well as Norway), while the respective shares were equal in Bulgaria. The relative importance of value added was much higher in Greece and Cyprus, as the share of value added in the national non financial business economy total was 3.5 and 2.5 times that recorded for employment, indicating particularly high apparent labour productivity relative to national non-financial business economy averages.

In absolute terms, Germany and Italy had the largest workforces in the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector in 2013, each with more than 180 thousand persons employed, followed by the United Kingdom and France respectively with 164.7 thousand and 158.9 thousand persons employed. In terms of value added, Germany and the United Kingdom had by far the largest water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector, generating EUR 21.1 billion and EUR 18.9 billion, respectively in 2013, almost 50 % above the levels recorded in France and Italy. These very different levels were reflected in the apparent labour productivity figures, with the United Kingdom averaging value added of EUR 114.6 thousand per person employed and Germany 102.4 thousand, far ahead of the EUR 67.0 thousand and EUR 65.6 thousand averages for France and Italy respectively; the only EU Member State with a higher apparent labour productivity than the United Kingdom’s ratio was Denmark (EUR 173.8 thousand per person employed). Combined with average personnel costs only slightly above the EU-28 average, the United Kingdom recorded the third highest wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio in the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector (319.0 %), behind Denmark (355.5 %) and Cyprus (334.7 %).

Germany had the largest value added for the total of the water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities and also for two of the subsectors, namely sewerage and waste management and materials recovery activities. The United Kingdom had the largest value added for water supply activities (31.2 % of the EU-28 total), way ahead of Germany that ranked second with 13.2 %. For remediation activities and other waste management services, France had the largest value added (26.2 % of the EU-28 total), ahead of the United Kingdom (13.9 %).

Table 3 also shows that there were a number of country-specific cases of specialisation within the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector. In Croatia this sector contributed 2.6 % or more of non-financial business economy value added in 2013. In Spain and Poland this share was 2.3 % and 2.2 %, respectively. Greece was most specialised in the water supply subsector which represented 1.2 % of the country’s non-financial business economy value added. Spain's 1.2 % of non-financial business economy value added from waste management and materials recovery was higher than in any other EU Member State. Croatia generated 0.15 % of its non-financial business economy value added in the small remediation activities and other waste management services subsector, far ahead of any of the EU Member States, followed by Slovenia had the second highest specialisation (0.06 %)

Size class analysis

The enterprise size structure of the EU-28’s water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector was less dominated by large enterprises (with 250 or more persons employed) than the mining and quarrying sector or the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sector. Nevertheless, large enterprises in the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector still provided a greater share of value added (51.4 % in 2013) than the enterprises in any of the three other size classes shown in Figure 4 . Large enterprises employed 44.0 % of the EU-28 workforce in the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector and had an above average apparent labour productivity (EUR 116.8 thousand per person employed). The highest apparent labour productivity in this sector was recorded for the 130 thousand persons working in micro enterprises (employing fewer than 10 persons), where average value added per person employed was EUR 71.5 thousand.

The share of large enterprises was greatest in the water supply subsector, where they employed 62.8 % of the EU-28 workforce, while the share of the workforce in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs, with less than 250 persons employed) was over 50 % in the other subsectors, except for water collection, treatment and supply, for which data was available. In terms of value added, an analysis by subsector shows that a similar situation occurred, with a majority of value added stemming from large enterprises in the water supply subsector, whereas SMEs accounted for more than half of the value added generated in the other subsectors.

Among the EU Member States, the relative importance of SMEs and large enterprises reflected to some extent their specialisations. For example, the United Kingdom recorded the highest value added share and third highest employment share of large enterprises in 2013, reflecting in part its specialisation in water supply. The highest shares of employment in large enterprises were recorded in Bulgaria and Romania, both above 57.0 %. By contrast, medium-sized enterprises (employing 50 to 249 persons) employed more than half the workforce in Slovenia, while small enterprises (employing 10 to 49 persons) provided over one third (35.7 %) of the workforce in the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector in Estonia. More than a quarter of the sectorial workforce was employed in micro enterprises (employing fewer than 10 persons) in Denmark.

Regional analysis

The French capital city region of Île de France recorded the highest number of persons employed, across NUTS level 2 regions within the EU-28, for the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector in 2013. With 60.9 thousand persons, the Île de France accounted for 4.1 % of those employed in the EU-28 workforce for this sector. The second highest number of persons employed was recorded for Cataluña in Spain, where 27.4 thousand persons worked in the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector. The southern Spanish region of Andalucía was the third largest (in employment terms) and the last of the regions with 26.3 thousand persons employed in this sector. Overall, the top 20 list of regions in the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector was dominated by Italian regions, of which there were eight, accompanied by four regions from Spain, two from France, two from Romania as well as one each from Lithuania (the whole country is one region at NUTS level 2), Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland.

The ranking of the largest regions (in employment terms) suggests that the EU-28’s water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector was particularly developed in and around capital city regions and in regions that contained other large cities. Aside from Paris and Milan there was a high level of employment within the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector in the capital city regions of Italy (Lazio), Romania (Bucuresti — Ilfov), Spain (Comunidad de Madrid), Hungary (Közép-Magyarország) and by definition Lithuania. Other large cities in the top 20 regions included Barcelona (Cataluña), Seville (Andalucía), Valencia (Comunidad Valenciana), Naples (Campania), Palermo (Sicilia), Turin (Piemonte), Venice (Veneto), and Lyons (Rhône-Alpes). The top 20 regions together accounted for 26 % of the EU-28’s water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities workforce.

The relative importance of the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector can be analysed by comparing the employment of this sector with the non-financial business economy workforce. Among the 193 NUTS level 2 regions for which data are available in 2013, the median share of the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector in the non-financial business economy workforce was 1.1 %. As a whole, the share of water supply, sewerage, and waste management and remediation activities in non-financial business economy employment was concentrated within a narrow range, comparable with that for the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sector: in other words, this activity was widespread and there were very few regions with a particularly low or high degree of specialisation.

In the Sud-Est and Nord-Est region of Romania, the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector accounted for 3.3 % and 2.8 % of the non-financial business economy workforce in 2013. In a further 20 NUTS level 2 regions, the share of the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector was 2.0 % or higher. Most of these regions were in Romania (four regions), Hungary (four regions), Italy (four regions), Bulgaria (three regions), Poland (two regions) with and one region each in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and in the United Kingdom. At the other end of the scale, the regions with the lowest share (0.5 % or less) of the non-financial business economy workforce in this sector were in the United Kingdom (four regions), Greece (three regions), the Netherlands (two regions) and Denmark, Sweden, Luxembourg, Finland (one region each). The lowest share within the EU-28 Nuts 2 regions (0.4 %), was recorded in Finland, the capital city region of Helsinki-Uusimaa.

Data sources and availability

Coverage

This article presents an overview of statistics for the EU’s water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector, as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Section E. This NACE section is composed of four NACE divisions, namely:

water supply (Division 36) which concerns the collection, purification, desalinisation and distribution of water. Some water, particularly when used in production processes, does not come from the public water supply system, but rather is extracted directly from its source. The (typically long distance) transport of water via pipelines is excluded.

sewerage activities (Division 37) which concern the operation of sewer systems or sewage treatment facilities that collect, treat, and dispose of sewage. Activities of water supply are often carried out in connection with, or by units also engaged in, the treatment of sewerage.

the management (including collection, treatment and disposal) of other forms of waste (Division 38), whether solid or non-solid waste, industrial or household waste, including the dismantling of wrecks and the operation of materials recovery facilities. Materials recovery includes the processing of metal and non-metal waste and scrap and other articles into secondary raw materials: the processing may involve a number of stages such as separating, sorting, crushing, shredding, cutting, melting, grinding, pressing, stripping, cleaning and composting. The output of the waste or sewage treatment process can either be disposed of or become an input into other production processes. Materials recovery does not extend to the production of new final products, nor does it include wholesaling of recoverable materials. Materials recovery does not cover reprocessing of nuclear fuels. Note also that substantial materials recovery may be carried out by enterprises as ancillary activities, without the involvement of enterprises in the waste management subsector.

remediation activities (Division 39) such as decontamination.

Data sources

The analysis presented in this article is based on the main dataset for structural business statistics (SBS), size class data and regional data, all of which are published annually.

The main series provides information for each EU Member State as well as a number of non-member countries at a detailed level according to the activity classification NACE. Data are available for a wide range of variables.

In structural business statistics, size classes are generally defined by the number of persons employed. A limited set of the standard structural business statistics variables (for example, the number of enterprises, turnover, persons employed and value added) are analysed by size class, mostly down to the three-digit (group) level of NACE. The main size classes used in this article for presenting the results are:

small and SMEs): with 1 to 249 persons employed, further divided into;

micro enterprises: with less than 10 persons employed;

small enterprises: with 10 to 49 persons employed;

medium-sized enterprises: with 50 to 249 persons employed;

large enterprises: with 250 or more persons employed.

Regional SBS data are available at NUTS levels 1 and 2 for most of the EU Member States and Norway excluding Croatia, mostly down to the two-digit (division) level of NACE. The main variable analysed in this article is the number of persons employed. The type of statistical unit used for regional SBS data is normally the local unit, which is an enterprise or part of an enterprise situated in a geographically identified place. Local units are classified into sectors (by NACE) normally according to their own main activity, but in some EU Member States the activity code is assigned on the basis of the principal activity of the enterprise to which the local unit belongs. The main SBS data series are presented at national level only, and for this national data the statistical unit is the enterprise. It is possible for the principal activity of a local unit to differ from that of the enterprise to which it belongs. Hence, national SBS data from the main series are not necessarily directly comparable with national aggregates compiled from regional SBS.

Context

The organisation of water supply within the EU varies between Member States, with state-owned, private and mutual enterprises, as well as municipalities involved in terms of the ownership or operation of infrastructure. Among the key issues that affect this sector are the quality of drinking water, and the efficient use of water resources, the latter concerning issues such as pricing, repair of leakages, metering of water use, and water-efficient practices. Furthermore, the cost of related services (such as wastewater collection and treatment) is an important factor, as is the impact of changes in consumption patterns, for example, the increased use of water related to growth in tourism particularly in areas with scarce water resources.

Adopted in 2000, the Water framework Directive provides the basis for water policy within the EU. This framework directive is built on four main pillars:

coordinated action to achieve ‘good status’ for all EU waters, including surface and groundwater, by 2015;

setting-up a water-management system based on natural river basin districts, crossing regional and national boundaries — at the time of writing most but not all river basin management plans had been adopted;

integrated water management, bringing different water management issues into one framework;

active involvement of interested parties and consultation of the public.

The European Commission adopted in November 2012 its ‘Blueprint to safeguard European waters’, a new strategy to reinforce water management in the EU. This blueprint integrates the results of a policy review concerning: water scarcity and droughts; an analysis of the implementation of river basin management under the water framework Directive; a review of the vulnerability of environmental resources (such as water, biodiversity and soil) to climate change impacts and man-made pressures; and a review of the whole of the EU’s water policy framework in the light of the European Commission’s ‘better regulation’ approach. The blueprint aims to ensure that good quality water is available across Europe in sufficient quantities for all legitimate uses.

to turn the EU into a resource-efficient, green and competitive low-carbon economy;

to safeguard the EU’s citizens from environment-related pressures and risks to health and wellbeing;

to maximise the benefits of the EU’s environment legislation;

to improve the evidence base for environment policy;

to secure investment for environment and climate policy and get the prices right;

to improve environmental integration and policy coherence;

to enhance the sustainability of the EU’s cities;

to increase the EU’s effectiveness in confronting regional and global environmental challenges.

In November 2008, a Waste framework Directive was adopted which introduces a binding five-step waste hierarchy, whereby prevention is the preferred option, followed by re-use, recycling and other forms of recovery, with disposal such as landfill used only as a last resort. Unless properly regulated, the disposal of waste may have a serious environmental impact: landfills, for example, can take up land space and may cause air, water and soil pollution, while incineration can result in emissions of dangerous air pollutants.

EU policy aims to move waste management up the waste hierarchy taking into account environmental impacts over the entire life cycle. Waste prevention can be achieved through cleaner technologies, better design, or more efficient production and consumption patterns; as well as reducing waste these preventative actions may lead to reductions in resource consumption throughout production and distribution chains.

EU legislation sets binding targets for Member States on the recovery and recycling/re-use of municipal waste, batteries, electrical and electronic waste, construction and demolition waste, end-of-life vehicles and packaging.